How come some one can compare Karnataka with these Bimaru states ,
whose people go around begging for work as they dont have in their own state ..

KP Muthu 99
Ask 'livemint", if u have the guts and stop bullshitting here.If others find work in ur place, well its because of your own inablity to provide required talent. and for this you better ask compnaies based in your place rather than using bitter words like 'begging'.
If you cannot contribute anything useful, it is fine. But dont post negative stuff. It will take hardly a few words for anyone to pull you and your own state. SO RESTRICT UR SHITTING TO UR OWN STATE PORTAL
@ Moderators - Pls dont encourage these kind of encroachers who are here just to hurt the sentiments of ppl and create a division here.

@KP Muthu - I rarely log in to my SSC account but seeing your bull shit couldnt stop myself and I m not from either of the states mentioned above

Lucknow: With RLD chief Ajit Singh taking over as the new Union civil aviation minister, hope has been kindled for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s long-cherished dream of having a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) at Jewar, near the national capital. The question whether a new airport should be allowed within 70 km of an existing airport, as it may hamper the business prospects of the existing one, has come in the way of the proposed airport in Greater Noida.

Proposed way back in 2001, the aviation hub was conceptualised to ease traffic at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The project was also given a techno-feasibility clearance by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, during Mayawati’s earlier stint as chief minister. However, innumerable efforts of the state government in the last four-and-a-half years to get the project off the ground have borne little fruit and according to senior officials, the only reason for the project not seeing the light of day is the Centre’s objection.

“Despite the fact that traffic figures prove that a second airport near Delhi is indeed essential, the Centre has refused to give a go-ahead on it. But now that we have a new civil aviation minister, and that too from the region where this airport is to come up, we hope that he is able to convince the Centre on the need and importance of the airport for the people of his region,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

The official cited an AAI study stating that by 2015-16, air traffic at the IGI Airport will hit the 108-million mark, which would lead to severe congestion. “A second airport such as the TIAH is the only answer to this problem,” he stated.

In fact, in order to address the issue of revenue collection, the UP government had in 2007 also given a written assurance to the Centre that it would abide by the contractual agreement entered into by the Government of India’s civil aviation department with the GMR Group, promoters of Delhi International Airport, in case any loss of revenue is reported. And ever since Mayawati came to power, she has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh several times on this issue, requesting him to clear the matter at the earliest.

The state has accusing the Centre of dilly-dallying on the R3,500-crore project. “The only reason for the project to be put into cold storage is that the Centre does not want the BSP government to take the credit for development in the state. But now that RLD chief Ajit Singh has become a partner in the Congress-led UPA coalition, it remains to be seen how much he is able to work to the benefit of his constituency and the state,” said another official who had been instrumental in getting the project cleared in 2003.

One of the little known, but important activity of the Mayawati government, for which it launched six-month drives, was freeing the lands allotted to the poor, particularly dalits, from illegal possession. As many as 21,000 FIRs were registered as preventive measures to stop capture of these lands, commonly known as ‘patta land’, and more than 7,200 persons were arrested and sent to jail, sources said.

“The BSP government launched regular campaigns every six months to free patta lands from illegal possession of other villagers,” an official in the Revenue Department said. Senior officials were sent to tour villages and ensure that priority was given to identify such lands.

However, the government effort to ensure land allotments to dalits created resentment in the poor among OBCs who were left out.

“So, the government launched a special drive for patta allotment for fisheries. Pattas for ponds above 0.202 hectare in size were given,” an official said.

There are two kinds of government lands available at village

level which are allotted to the poor as patta land. These are land declared surplus as a result of enforcement of the land ceiling laws and gram sabha land. The allotment of these lands are made by the land management committee (LMC) of the village.

LMC’s chairman is village head while Lekhpal (revenue clerk) is its secretary. The selection of allottees is done by LMC, and the SDM concerned gives approval for the final allotment. The allottees become land holder after continuously possessing the allotted land for a period of 10 years.

The patta allottments are made under the UP Zamindari Abolition Laws (Amendment) Act, 1978.

Traditionally, the Nishad community is in the fishery business and it is present in many eastern UP assembly constituencies in a good number. Besides Nishads, the government also gave pattas for potteries, benefitting the Kumhar community.

About 29,000 hectare land was allotted as patta for fisheries in first four years of the Mayawati government while 15,375 hectare was allotted for potteries.

A total number of 3.62 lakh persons were allotted patta for residential land across the state. “Of them, the number of SC/ST was more than 2.36 lakh,” sources said.

Similarly, the state government allotted around 58,000 hectare as patta for agriculture land to 2.67 lakh landless people in the first four years of Mayawati government. These allottees included more than 1.60 lakh dalits.

NEW DELHI: One of the most comprehensive survey of learning achievement of class V students by NCERT shows that mean achievement of children of Uttar Pradesh in language and mathematics is highest in the country.

In environmental studies, UP students are a close second after Tamil Nadu (72.30%), with a mean score of 67.15%. In all respects - performance of girls, rural children and percentage of children getting more than 80% - UP has outclassed all states.

The survey that was carried out between March and May, 2010, under the direction of Avtar Singh, head of department of educational measurement and evaluation, tested over one lakh students in language, mathematics and environmental studies in 31 states and is more exhaustive than Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report. NCERT followed the internationally-recognized principle of Item Response Theory (IRT), where a student is graded on each item asked rather than on a total test. The last such comprehensive survey was conducted in 2006-07, but IRT was not followed. The HRD ministry has decided to make the survey a regular affair.

FICCI has recently conducted a study on progress of PPP projects in various states of country. As per its report UP stands amongst top five states of the country. An extract of the report is as under :
The scenario in each state is different in the context of infrastructure development as each state has the right to promulgate legislations in the areas covered in the state list of the Constitution of India. However, certain states have taken substantial steps to encourage PPP activity. They have created legal frameworks for participation of private sector in the state

The top five states account for 58.3% of total value of PPP in India
The major sectors being targeted for PPP format by leading states are roads, ports and airports.
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat average around 11% of the total value of PPP of the country.
The bottom 10 states represent only 3.5% of the total value of PPP – indicating differences in attractiveness of investment by private sector.

On the back of higher cane production and acreage in Uttar Pradesh, the sugar output has already exceeded 6.1 million tonnes (mt), higher than the total 5.9-mt mark for entire 2010-11 season.

While, the state government is confident of achieving its target of 6.5 mt sugar production, experts believe it could even touch 7 mt.

“This year saw less diversion to gur and khandsari units,” according to farmers advocacy group Kisan Jagriti Manch. “Consequently, the mills have received good cane supply. We feel, the crushing season can even extend to April 25 and total sugar output can touch 7 MT in UP,” Manch president Sudhir Panwar of Lucknow University said.

In the current season, the total sugarcane payments to farmers are likely to touch Rs 17,000 crore.

However, the sugar arrears have mounted to over Rs 3,160 crore as per the latest available figures. Of the total cane dues of Rs 13,131 crore and Rs 1,231 crore on private and cooperative sugar mills, they had only paid Rs 10,409 crore and Rs 786 crore respectively.

On Friday, the cane commissioner had directed the defaulting private sugar millers, whose payment percentage had dipped below 80 per cent, for early settlement lest the government resorted to issuing recovery certificates.

There are 125 functional mills in the state, mostly in private sector. Meanwhile, the mills had collectively crushed about 69 mt of cane with the recovery percentage standing at 8.96.

However, Panwar expressed concern over arrears. “The new government in UP has a challenge in the form of cane arrears, since farming community is a political constituency of the ruling Samajwadi Party.” On November 8, 2011, UP had hiked the state-advised price for came by almost 20 per cent.

The price of early variety of cane was increased Rs 40/quintal to Rs 250/quintal, while that of common variety was hiked by Rs 35/quintal to Rs 240/quintal.

LUCKNOW: Founder and chairman of HCL technologies, Shiv Nadar, is likely to meet UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday. The meeting gains significance given UP government's initiative to set up IT parks in Lucknow and Agra.

This will probably the first visit by any IT honcho in the state ever since SP's landslide victory in UP 2012 polls. Government sources said that the Nadar will be meeting Yadav to discuss the potential the two cities have for the IT sector.

The need for an IT park in Lucknow has been felt for nearly a decade. However, successive governments have been dragging their feet on the issue, forcing IT industries to look for other places. Although IT companies have set up shops in in the NCR, they never moved forward.

The initiative was taken even during Mayawati government in 2008, when an IT park was proposed in Gomtinagar extension. But, the state government moved too slowly to realise the proposal. It was once again in 2011 that the state government initiated the move to set up an IT park near Amausi airport.

In an attempt to turn UP into an IT hub, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday held a two-hour meeting with HCL chairman Shiv Nadar at the state secretariat in the presence of senior bureaucrats and ministers.

The meeting began with Nadar and his team putting forward the expectations of the sector from the government and listing out the support system that can be provided by his group, be it manufacturing computers in the state through PPP model or establishment of 1,000 support and training service centres at the block level.

He also proposed to take up computerisation in 120 government schools in the next two years free of cost through the Shiv Nadar foundation.

Sources said that Nadar and his team assured the government that they can provide 1,000 training and support centres, and in turn, they expected government to establish production facilities in the state through public-private partnership model, giving all clearances from a single point and providing rebate in tax and duties.

The group also suggested five broad things the IT sector expects from the government, such as identification of five places for developing IT hubs in different parts of the state like Lucknow or Agra. The group also suggested allocation of land such that the IT township can be developed in the same area with the concept of “walk to work”. Lastly, Nadar suggested setting up a fund pool to promote IT infrastructure, housing and training investment in the state.

“He began with listing his old association with the state i.e. how HCL was established in 1976 with UPTRON as its partner. He said he has about 30,000 employees working in Uttar Pradesh across 60 offices,” informed a senior government officer who was part of the meeting.

Nadar also proposed to equip 120 primary government schools in the state with computers in the next two years. “He said that in the first year, about 20 schools identified by the government would be equipped with computers by Shiv Nadar foundation, which is a charitable trust. In the next year, 100 schools will be taken up on pilot basis by them. The proposal is yet to be considered by the government,” said another officer.

After the meeting, Nadar said, “It was mainly a brainstorming session on the IT sector.”

Sources said that after the meeting, Akhilesh asked officials to get in touch with IT service providers like TCS, Wipro and Infosys and come up with suggestions as to how to develop UP as an IT hub. The CM has also ordered formation of working groups in all concerned departments to ensure the IT projects are implemented properly.

WASHINGTON: India-focused American companies are developing the "agenda for progress" for Uttar Pradesh with the objective of its all-inclusive and dynamic growth, the US India Business Council(USIBC) has said. The "agenda for progress", tailored made for the state, is being prepared at the request of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

It would be developed within the first 100 days of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh by USIBC, which is the apex body of American companies doing business in India.

"I look forward to working with this forward-thinking chief minister to help achieve his goal of creating jobs and prosperity for the people of this great state," said Somers, who had met Yadav within the very first week of him taking over as the chief minister.

Somers said he discussed the development priorities for the state, where American investment would be welcome.

These areas include farming best practices; agricultural development, food processing, water development for drinking, irrigation, and treatment; connectivity - including by air, by roads, and via the internet.

Other areas include health care development, vocational skills development; manufacturing - with an emphasis on Job creation and energy and power development. "American companies are keen to invest in all these sectors - so long as the business environment is welcoming," he said

With the change of guard in Uttar Pradesh last month, the industry has been showing greater confidence in the government headed by the IT-savvy and young Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav.

Taking the industrial agenda forward, Lucknow is gearing up to host an industry conclave next month.

Anil Kumar Gupta, commissioner, State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation, said many industrialists are expected at the event, which would see Yadav interacting with them and showcasing ‘Brand Uttar Pradesh’.The dates for the conclave were yet to be finalised, but it is expected to be held after May 20, Gupta said on the sidelines of an interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industry members. At the event, he sought industry members’ suggestions for speeding the industrial development in the state. The conclave would be an industry initiative.

“Any state would develop faster if the chief minister takes an initiave. UP is fortunate to have a young and dynamic head of the government, who is proactively following the industrial agenda,” he added.

Gupta said the government plans to hold similar conclaves in metro cities across the country and even foreign locations, to highlight the potential of the state.

“However, we want to first focus on our current resources to give impetus to the industrialisation process,” he underlined.

Since the new government took over, industrialists have been talking to the government both formally and informally with investment proposals. This is because they could perceive positive change, said Gupta.

However, the government had not fixed any investment target yet.

The previous Mayawati- regime had targeted about Rs 2,00,000 crore of private investment mostly under public private partnership mode. However, not many of these saw the light of day, except for the 165-km Yamuna Expressway between Agra and Greater Noida.

LUCKNOW: Promising uniform growth in all the regions of Uttar Pradesh, state's infrastructure and industrial development commissioner, Anil Kumar Gupta, on Friday said that UP would witness considerable industrial growth in the coming months. "The state government is in the process of conceptualising policies," Gupta said, while interacting with industry representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

He also said that UP government is working to create a policy to encourage more private partnership in the power sector. "The state government would announce, within a few days, the decision to extend the private distribution of power supply to more cities in the state. At present the private power distribution model is being followed in Agra," Gupta said.

Inviting suggestions for improvement from industry partners, Gupta also said that the manufacturing sector in UP had not grown at a competitive pace. "UP would adopt the Centre's National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ). Meant to catalyse growth in the manufacturing sector, NMIZ will cater to small and medium scale industries and will be planned on 5,000 hectares of land,'' the industrial development commissioner said. Proposed to come up in Ghaziabad and Bundelkhand regions of the state, the move would ensure that development stimulates growth in the less developed regions of the state as well. Gupta said, "There is a worldwide emphasis on shifting focus to develop Tier II and Tier III regions. In this light, the UP government is committed to bring industrialisation in the interior regions of the state.'' Gupta also said the state government would not accept proposals that were concentrated only in the National Capital Region.

Gupta also said the government had given a green signal for the revival of the Lucknow Industrial Development Authority ( LIDA). Constituted in 2005 during the previous regime of the Samajwadi government, the government has now issued a deadline of one month to start allotment of plots in the existing project for an IT park, for which 350 applications were pending.

He also said that UP government is in the process of finalising a new solar energy policy by the second week of May. Emphasising the government's commitment to develop agro-processing industry in raw material-rich UP, Gupta said Rs 150 crore Mega Food Park scheme would also be implemented.

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The UP government is exploring the possibility of setting up an international airport between Agra and Mathura — in what could mean the end of the road for the Taj international airport proposed during the previous Mayawati regime.
Officials believe an airport between Agra and Mathura is a far better idea than the Taj international airport and aviation hub, proposed at Jewar near Delhi, and which is still awaiting clearance by the Centre.

The idea came up at a meeting called by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday to discuss infrastructure development in the two tourism cities.

A senior officer said: “Unlike the other proposed projects, this one is expected to find takers at all levels for three reasons. First, it is not in the vicinity of any existing airport, so there won’t be objections on that front. Second, the footfall of international and domestic tourists in Agra and Mathura cannot be questioned. Third, the existing good connectivity of road with the national capital region adds to its feasibility.”

Congress MLA from Mathura Pradeep Mathur, who was invited by the CM to the meeting, was also impressed. “It is a much more feasible idea. I have proposed it to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh as well. He has asked the departments concerned to prepare the concept report and I have promised to pursue it with the Centre.” Sources in the government said the tourism department had been asked to prepare the concept report and submit it by this weekend.

At present, there are two proposed international airports in UP but the future of both looks uncertain.

One is the Jewar project that got the Centre’s in-principle approval in 2003. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a group of ministers to look into this but it did not reach any decision. A major objection to the project was that it is located within a 150 km radius of the existing Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

The other, the Kushinagar international airport project, has been cleared by the Centre at all levels, but the UP Government found it difficult to convince the private players of its viability. It was proposed to be part of the Buddhist Circuit, and there was a proposal to arrange viability gap funding, but still the project failed to take off.

There is an existing airport in Kheira area of Agra which is controlled by the Indian Air Force. At present, international and domestic flights coming to Agra land here, but there have been problems. For example, last year, the Ministry of Defence decided to take up renovation work during the peak tourist

The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the state government and the Allahabad Development Authority (ADA) to finish the exercise of marking the distance of 500 metres from the highest flood points along the banks of Ganga within three weeks. The court’s directive during the hearing of an application filed by a private builder pointing out that it has been almost nine months since the High Court had passed an order in this regard.

Last August, the high court had directed the ADA not to allow any construction within 500 metres from the highest flood points as it would have detrimental impact on the river’s flow and ecological balance on its floodplain. It had also directed the ADA to identify the highest flood points and earmark a distance of 500 metres from there.

The application, which was part of hearing of the PIL on pollution in Ganga, was filed by M/S Pancham Realcon, a subsidiary of private builder Omaxe, which is coming up with a major residential cluster along the banks of Ganga in Naini, saying the exercise in this regard was yet to be started.

Counsel for the company, S M A Kazmi, said,”In the absence of marks, it becomes difficult to ascertain the distance of 500 metres, in which no construction is supposed to take place.”

The work on a few such projects coming along the river has been stopped due to non-completion of the exercise, he added.

Among the many people-friendly initiatives of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the latest is a call centre — where the common man will be able to register his complaints, grievances and even suggestions.The call centre, set up by the Chief Minister during the Assembly elections at Lohia Trust Building, will now be expanded to function as a helpline-cum-complaint registration centre. The centre is solely an initiative of Akhilesh — as the state president of Samajwadi Party (SP) — and the state government will not bear any of its expenses.

“The idea was in the CM’s mind for some time but after the large turnout at the first Janata Darshan at CM’s residence on April 18, it has been decided to implement it sooner,” said State Minister for Protocol in CM’s Office Abhishek Mishra.

At the Janata Darshan, the CM received nearly 5,000 applications. For sorting out these applications, at least a week’s time is required so that they are properly fed in computer and dispatched to districts concerned, with instructions. “By the time these applications reach their destination for redressal, another 10,000 will be in the queue — if we go by the same response and the CM’s easy accessibility,” said an official.

The proposed call centre is expected to share the burden of a large number of applications as it will be a 24X7 affair. Also, the applicants won’t have to visit Lucknow to register their complaints.

At present, the office of the call centre at the first floor of Lohia Trust Building is undergoing renovation. The existing capacity of 12 seats will be expanded upto 30 seats. The phone number will be soon made public.

“It will save time and the government will be within the reach of common man,” said state minister Mishra.

He also stated that the call centre will serve as a good means to gather response from the public regarding government’s functioning. “Not only complaints, people can also leave their suggestions and they will be promptly attended to,” he added.

Earlier, during the elections, the call centre was used to collect feedback regarding party’s performance and candidates. It served the purpose as every minute thing was passed on to the call centre, which were further forwarded to Akhilesh.

The Lohia Trust Building is situated adjacent to state party headquarters. The call centre is strictly no-entry zone for the party leaders.

“This project will be developed as personal secretariat of the Chief Minister. We are monitoring the Facebook, Twitter accounts and other tech-savvy changes in the party from here itself,” said an executive at the call centre.

In a bid to attract industries, the Akhilesh Yadav government is planning to promote Lucknow as an automobile hub. For this, the Chief Minister is learnt to have held a meeting with Tata Motor’s Managing Director (India Operations) P M Telang recently to discuss expansion of its automobile production unit in the capital.
He is also hoping to attract ancillary industries for the automobile production unit.

The idea, claims Protocol Minister and a close aide of Yadav, Abhishek Mishra, is to renew investments in the state. “We have requested the Tata Motors to expand capacity in terms of production in Lucknow,” Mishra told The Sunday Express. “We have also requested them to bring the ancillary units to UP in order to promote industries in the state,” he said.

The investment, said Mishra, is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore if the talks fructify. “When the ancillary units will come to UP, vocational training will be started to run the show and gradually a talent pool will be created. In the process, we will start becoming a minor hub for automobiles in the state.”

Tatas already have a manufacturing unit in Lucknow established in 1992 for rolling out commercial vehicles.

During the last Samajwadi Party regime, the company had expanded the plant’s capacity from 100 vehicles to over 300 vehicles per day. However, sources in the company said the plant was unable to perform to its capacity due to absence of ancillary units to support the plant. The company is now planning to expand the plant capacity to more than 500 vehicles production per day.

The Tata’s production unit is established on the Lucknow-Barabanki road. “It makes sense if they expand their unit next to the existing unit in Chinhat. The ancillary units can come up near the mother unit or in Lucknow Industrial Development Authority on the Lucknow-Kanpur road,” said Mishra. Debasis Ray, Head, Corporate Communications, Tata Motors confirmed the meeting between Akhilesh and Telang but did not give the details.

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on Thursday said Uttar Pradesh had the potential to grow by 10 per cent during the 12th Plan and investment to the tune of Rs 15,00,000 crore was feasible during the period.

The industry body said key sectors for such investment would be power and infrastructure to attract industry, which would lead to multiplier effect and generate more investment in the state.

“There is power deficit of 20 per cent in UP and the sector needs to grow by 15 per cent to give impetus to industrialisation. We firmly believe that UP has the potential and the will to partner the private sector for speedier growth,” ASSOCHAM secretary general D S Rawat said at a conference call here.
Earlier on Thursday, ASSOCHAM northern region chairman and leading industrialist Lalit Khaitan had called upon UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in New Delhi and submitted a 30-point growth agenda for the state to achieve double digit growth during the next decade.

The agenda was released in Lucknow this afternoon and later the chamber representatives also met senior government officials, including the chief secretary and infrastructure and industrial development commissioner.

The chamber has stressed upon agricultural and agro-based industry, since 60 per cent of the state population is dependant upon the sector. He informed ASSOCHAM had launched a ‘Welcome to UP’ desk at its Delhi office to facilitate investments in UP. “We will soon hold brainstorming sessions to study the economic policies of progressive Indian states with a view to possibly replicating and adapting the same in UP,” Khaitan added.

“Our association with state governments in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh has resulted in inflow of private investment in these respective states and we are confident our role as catalyst will work for UP as well,” Rawat underlined.

ASSOCHAM has suggested UP to engage private sector and introduce investor-friendly policy to boost the investment scenario. “The government must aggressively invest in upgrading the social and physical infrastructure, offer tax exemptions, lucrative incentives and subsidies to encourage investments from industrialists,” Khaitan added.

The Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environment Planning and Technology (CEPT) will conduct the feasibility study of a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in Lucknow. A team of experts from CEPT is likely to visit Lucknow next week.

CEPT is credited with the successful implementation of the BRTS project in Ahmedabad. The institute had prepared feasibility as well as a detailed project report for the project there. A detailed system design and support during construction was provided by them.

The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) had approached CEPT after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on March 24 directed the Housing and Urban Planning Department to get feasibility studies conducted for BRTS, Metro rail and mono rail in four major cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Varanasi.

“After receiving our proposal, CEPT had sought some reports about Lucknow city’s road network and current traffic situation, including availability of transport mediums. The information has been sent to CEPT and a team from there will be in Lucknow soon to start the study,” said Ashtbhuja Prasad Tiwari, LDA secretary.

Tiwari said that a detailed project report (DPR) for Metro rail in Lucknow has already been prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Last year a team from LDA had visited Mumbai to study the mono rail project there. The previous Mayawati government had got the Metro rail DPR made, but could not take a decision regarding the funding for the costly project.

In the present government, however, there is a view that BRTS would be preferable in Lucknow as it would be more economical than Metro as well as mono rail and it will have connectivity to more localities of the city.

In the other three cities, the development authorities have not taken any step to get feasibility studies conducted for Metro rail, mono rail or BRTS.

Kanpur Development Authority secretary Rakesh Kumar said that they had not received any specific directions from the government in this regard.

Agra Development Authority vice-chairman Lal Vihari said, “The ADA does not have the expertise for conducting a feasibility study. The Divisional Commissioner, as ADA chairman, has to select an expert agency, but the post has been vacant for the past few weeks.’’

An official in the Varanasi Development Authority said that discussions were held after the Chief Minister’s directive, “but no decision about a feasibility study has been taken”.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government has decided to scrap the ambitious Greenfield international airport at Jewar. A crucial part of former chief minister Mayawati's dream project, the airport has been dumped as a result of the Centre's unwillingness'' to give clearances to the project. Now, the SP government is planning to develop a new international airport between Agra and Mathura.

As per the rules, no airport can be constructed within 150 km of an existing airport. Jewar, however, was less than 100 km away from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Although the BSP government had repeatedly requested the Centre to clear the airport project, it could never materilase.

Confirming the decision to scrap the Jewar airport, infrastructure and industrial development commissioner Anil Kumar Gupta said: Central clearance for Jewar airport was pending for seven years. In the absence of this approval, UP government was left with no alternative. As a result, a decision was taken to scrap the project.''

The decision, however, does not mean the end of the road for the international airport project in the state. Following the scrapping orders for Jewar, the state government has also issued instructions for identifying a new site for an international airport, conforming to the 150-km distance ruling. District magistrates of Agra and Mathura have been instructed to identify sites that are at least 150 km from the IGI airport. The new airport will, tentatively, will come up between Agra and Mathura. The search for the new site will begin soon,'' Gupta said.

Setting up an airport at the new site, however, might also not be easy. Among the first bottlenecks that the state government could face in this regard is related to land acquisition. With UP having witnessed large-scale farmer unrest only one year ago in the same region, at Bhatta and Parsaul villages of Western UP, it is not certain how the farming community might react to fresh acquisition bids this time. In addition, obtaining environmental clearances from the state and centre could also involve inordinate delays in the implementation of the project. The SP government, however, will hope that its manifesto promise of paying six times the market rate to farmers for acquiring their land will make the process smoother. Reportedly, however, different departments of the state government have opposed this decision saying that it will be impossible for the state government to bear the cost burden of such a decision. Gupta said: We don't see any major delays because no work had been done on the Jewar airport except the identification of land. We will be also do the same in one month. The process of acquiring land will only begin after that.''s

Earlier, the Mayawati government had scrapped a proposed airport project in Partapur, about 16 km from Meerut. Though the project was believed to have attracted interest from big players and had also received an in-principal approval from the Union ministry of civil aviation, it had to be dropped, once again, because the two proposed airports in Partapur and Taj International Airport in Jewar were less than 100 km apart. Officially, however, problems related to land acquisition were cited as the reasons for cancelling the Meerut airport.